How does the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution abolish slavery?
The Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. The Amendment was proposed by Congress on January 31, 1865 and ratified on December 6, 1865. The Amendment states, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." By abolishing slavery, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished the inhuman institution of slavery that had been in place for hundreds of years in parts of the United States, including Alaska. In Alaska, slavery was abolished in preparation for statehood in 1959. The Amendment also made it illegal to forcibly enslave someone as punishment for a crime. This addressed a loophole in the Amendment that some states used to continue slavery by punishing those convicted of crimes with involuntary servitude. In addition to abolishing slavery, the Thirteenth Amendment also implicitly abolished existing laws that denied African Americans their rights. This included laws that disallowed African Americans to testify against whites in court, allowed for unequal wages between whites and African Americans, and prohibited African Americans from voting. By abolishing slavery, the Thirteenth Amendment of the US Constitution ended the centuries of inhumane treatment of African Americans and brought about a new era of freedom for African Americans in Alaska and across Amercica.
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